Tuesday Evening Business Brief

October 23, 2012, 5:16 PM

Worries about corporate earnings weighed on the stock market today, producing one of the worst losses of the year. The Dow fell 243 points, or 1.8 percent, to 13,103. The S&P dropped nearly 21 points, while the Nasdaq composite was down nearly 27 points.

Facebook is reporting better-than-expected quarterly numbers, only the second earnings report it has issued since becoming a publicly-traded company. The stock was up strongly in after-hours trading.

Netflix has cut its prediction of how many video streaming subscribers it will add this year after its third-quarter additions were at the low end of the company's forecasts. The stock was down sharply in after-hours trading. For the latest quarter, Netflix earned $7.7 million, or 13 cents a share, beating Wall Street forecasts.

Apple has unveiled a new, smaller iPad, dubbed the "Mini," along with a refresh of the larger-format device. Apple shares lost about 3 percent today after the announcement. The price of the Mini starts at $329.

An assistant manager at an Arby's in southwestern Ohio who jumped out of a drive-thru window to escape a robber has been fired because the company says she repeatedly violated company policy against working alone after hours. Police say the woman, Mary Archer, was working alone when a man armed with a knife came into the Arby's in Fairborn, Ohio. Archer told officers that when he demanded money, she pushed him and jumped out the window. The man fled and Archer was not hurt.